Sunday, June 19, 2011

Legislators’ Pay As Burden On Economy

Guardian
19 June 2011

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Why Legislators’ Pay Turns Jumbo

• 469 Federal Lawmakers Gulp N339bn In 4 Years

• Actual Salary (On Pay Slip) Only N18.245bn

• N45m Per Senator Per Quarter (N720m In 4 Years)

• N42m Per House Member Per Quarter (N672m In 4 Years)

• N4,881,394,960 To Maintain 109 Senators

• N13,364,450,550 To Maintain 360 House Members

WHY do the people worry really, when it will cost oil-rich nation, Nigeria, a paltry N338.6 billion to maintain the 469 members of the federal legislature constitutionally domiciled in the nation’s capital, Abuja.

The actual figure is N338,645,845,510 [over $2 billion] of Nigeria’s (taxpayers’) money) to maintain the 469 parliamentarians in Abuja.

This is how the legislators, who will assist President Goodluck Jonathan in his ‘transformation agenda’, will spend what is controversially referred to as “25 per cent of the national budget” in four years.

This figure, which covers salaries and some allowances, does not include differential pays and other perquisites of office.

Nor does the figure that the CBN governor, Sanusi Lamido Sanusi, once complained about ahead of the 7th Assembly, include expenditure on duty tours, estacode and other oversight functions that affect attendance all the time, even as the media draw attention to alleged absenteeism in the bi-cameral legislature in Abuja.

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